Total Drama Supernatural - Omaria
by TheBlueFanFiction
Summary: A story about the TD cast living on an island where the kingdom "Omaria" is located. Omaria is where all supernaturals (and a few humans) live together in peace. Heather is queen, and everything is going well. That is until her uncle visits and all hell breaks loose. He takes over, bring chaos and war to the kingdom. Now it's up to the people of Omaria to fight for their lives.
1. Wolf

Heather paced across her bedroom quarters. Her high heels clipped each time she took a step. She pulled off her crimson colored gloves that matched her crimson colored gown and threw them onto her king-sized bed. She placed a sweaty hand on her forehead and felt a piece of her black hair that had fallen out of the bun she had her hair styled in. She brushed it back and sighed.

She was a mess.

"Get ahold of yourself, Heather," she mumbled to herself. She was a queen. She couldn't be worrying about stuff like this when she had a kingdom to rule.

Just recently, a very handsome and flirtatious werewolf had approached her when she was in her throne room. He was in human form, obviously, since there was no full moon for another week or so. He introduced himself, and claimed that he had travelled here from the woods beyond. He told Heather that she was even more beautiful than the glowing moon in the whimsical night sky.

She clenched her fists and shook her head. The memory of his gorgeous brown skin and his buff body disappeared from her head. She was a vampire. He was a werewolf. They were forbidden to be together. That had been the rule her own mother had made. She would not disobey it now.

"Missing me already?" A smooth voice said from behind her.

Heather gasped and spun around.

There he sat. Perched up on her window sill, grinning at her with soft lips and a pair of dashing green eyes. His long brown hair was windblown, as if he sprinted at full speed to her.

"How did you get up here?" Heather spat out. Her gaze locked onto his bare chest. "And why don't you have a shirt?"

The man flicked the hair out of his face and stood up from the window sill. He strolled towards her and took her hand. He bowed down and placed a soft kiss on the top of her hand. Heather pulled away.

"I said, how did you get here?" She asked again through clenched teeth, "There are at least fifteen guards out there."

He shrugged. "I got passed them. I climbed up the tower into your bedroom."

Heather backed up and crossed her arms. "This is so inappropriate. I'm the queen, y'know! You are making a fool of yourself in front of the queen." She spun around and huffed.

"You have feelings for me."

She spun back around. " _What_!? That's insane," she seethed, "I'm a vampire, you're a werewolf. Get it through your head, wolfy! We can't be together and we never will! I will never break the law that my mother made!"

"But you already did," he grinned.

Heather's face turned cherry red. "I'm giving you five seconds before I call the guards."

He stood there, looking at her with his charming eyes. Surely he would leave.

 _5, 4, 3, 2, 1-_ Heather counted the numbers down in her head, but he still didn't leave.

"You haven't called the guards yet," he pointed out.

She let out a breath of frustration and closed her eyes. "Leave."

He took her hands. "You don't want me to stay for a few more minutes?"

She pushed him towards the window. " _Leave!_ "

He grinned and threw his legs over the window sill. "Do you know my name?" He turned to her.

"What?" Heather raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know my name?" He asked again.

"Yes, I know your name, you introduced yourself yesterday!" She spat.

"Then say it."

"What?"

"Just say it," he smirked.

"Leave now, _Alejandro_ , or I'll dig my canines straight into your neck and suck all the dirty blood out of your body," she growled.

Alejandro winked, and then jumped off the window sill, leaving a dazzled Heather in her room.

"Stupid werewolf…" Heather mumbled to herself.

She walked over to the window, shut it, and then locked it and placed the key on her dresser. She closed her red curtains and carefully took her crown off and placed it onto a soft red cushion. She pulled her hair out of the bun and let it dangle down her back. Alejandro was wrong. She didn't have _feelings_ for him. So what if he was handsome and charming and dashing and strong and sexy and-

Heather groaned and wrapped her hair into a tight rope, then let it out. She unzipped her gown and slid it off her body. Then she flung off her high heels and collapsed onto her bed.

 _A queen is never messy._ Her mother's words echoed through her head. She looked at her crumbled gown on the marbled floor and her high heels that were flung across the room.

"Screw being clean," she murmured, "I'm the queen, I can do what I want."

Heather looked back at the window sill, where Alejandro had been sitting. She remembered his beautiful, buff body and his silky brown hair, and his gorgeous green eyes smirking at her. She groaned again and slapped her hand onto her forehead.

 _I don't have feelings for him. I don't have feelings for him._ Her own words rang over and over in her head.

But words couldn't convince her. Her heart had been shot by Cupid and his stupid arrows. She did have feelings for Alejandro. She was so freaking in love with him. But she would never, ever admit that to anyone. Not even Alejandro himself.


	2. Vile of Decease

Mike roamed through the village streets. The sun peeked through the clouds, warming the air just a bit. A breeze picked his brown cape off the floor and made it flow behind him. Someone shouted something to his left and he looked to see who it was. Jo and Brick were throwing insults at each other.

Of course.

He sighed and looked away. He glanced at the two fairies, Katie and Sadie, giggling and staring in awe at the "super-hot" fairy, Justin. Mike rolled his eyes and looked away. He noticed Staci chatting non-stop with Lightning, the werewolf that was so full of himself. Then Mike saw Beth walk by. She politely waved, so he waved back and gave her a small smile. Next, the dorky but powerful sorcerer, Harold, was drooling at Leshawna's side. Then, his eyes landed on the one person that always brightened his day.

Zoey.

Her hair rested on her shoulders, and it was the colour of roses, and her light pink dress that went down to her knees had a big white flower in the center of the corset. She had a brown cape with a hood that matched her brown boots and belt. Zoey beamed and skipped over to him.

"Good morning," she said and pecked his cheek.

"Morning," Mike replied and took her hand.

Zoey was the one person he trusted with his life. She knew about his Multiple Personality Disorder, and she was always there for him no matter what.

"Have the others gotten better at cooperating?" Zoey asked as they started walking.

By 'others' she meant his other personalities. "Sort of…" Mike replied, "They've calmed down a bit. Vito isn't hooking up with every girl he sees anymore, and Chester isn't shouting _'back in my day-!'_ anymore."

Zoey chuckled. "I do have to admit. They can be a bit amusing sometimes."

Mike squeezed her hand and shot her a grin. He was at least a full head taller than her, but he found that cute. Mike's tan made him look darker then he really was, and his brown hair stuck up in the humidity. Zoey, however, was never affected by the changing seasons. Summer, winter, fall, spring, she always looked the same. She always looked perfect. Her soft lips never dried, her eyes never swelled from typical spring-time-allergies, and her friendliness certainly never faltered.

They walked along the stone pathway, passing small wood and brick houses that belonged to the people of Omaria. The village was small, of course, since Omaria was such a tiny kingdom on a tiny island. Seriously, the whole kingdom, village, forest, and island, they were all tiny. Only about 150 or so in population. Most who lived on the island were supernatural, of course. Omaria had been a mix of humans and supernatural for generations. It had always been ruled by a supernatural too. To be specific, it was always ruled by a vampire. Queen Heather, her parents, her parent's parents. Never anything else.

No one was really bothered by this, since it didn't really affect the way someone ruled a kingdom. The only thing was, a law was made by Queen Heather's mother, Queen Hilary, when she was ruling this country. The law was that vampires and werewolves were forbidden to be together. The reason behind this is because Queen Hilary claimed that a werewolf murdered her husband (who was also a vampire), so she got so filled with grief and anger that she created that law. Anyone who broke that law would suffer major consequences.

And _that_ law sucked.

It caused a lot of hate between vampires and werewolves, for they didn't exactly get along around here, but some did. Mike was a sorcerer, so he didn't have to worry about any of these things. Zoey was a witch, the lesser-known supernatural creature. Most of Omaria went to the witches for some sort of good-luck charm, or a brewed up love potion of some sort that only last for a day, and occasionally people go to them for medicine if they're sick. It was proved that sorcerers are more powerful than witches, and there are more sorcerers in Omaria than witches (since only females can be born witches), but witches still should be treated equally to all the other supernaturals.

The two ventured to the center of the village, where a giant fountain stood. The smooth grey stone had carved holes in it, and in the holes were little patches of pure gold. The fountain was round, with a smaller level a little above the bottom level, and then above that was the top level. The top level had a big stone sphere on it, where the water came out of. They sat on the edge of it.

"Next full moon is coming up," Mike stated, "in about three or four days."

Zoey ran her fingers through the water in the fountain. "I know. Hopefully the werewolves won't be too noisy this time."

Mike chuckled as he thought back to the last full moon where _every single_ werewolf was howling throughout the night. It was also the night Mike and Zoey… went all the way.

Mike blushed at the thought of them doing it for the first time. He shook the thought away and turned his attention back to Zoey. "I wonder if Queen Heather will ever allow vampires and werewolves to be together."

She sighed. "I hope so. Maybe all the hate will go away."

"Yeah…" He fiddled with his cape as he watched the two fairy friends walk by, Katie and Sadie. Their matching black shirts with a white embedded pattern on it, and pink skirts went perfectly with their pale pink transparent wings. Their wings were dull, and not sparkling like normal, so that meant they were out of dust and were probably heading out to the forest where the grand Omarian Tree stood.

The Omarian Tree was grown in the center of the woods hundreds of years ago. The seed was formed when a huge full moon appeared one night, bigger than the moon has ever been, and lightning struck the moon, causing a tiny, tiny piece to fall off onto the island of Omaria. The piece fell into a pond (which is also in the center of the woods), and from there it melted into a seed. A mermaid found it a few days after that, but the seed wasn't just a seed anymore. It had sprouted a little stem, already started to grow.

Or at least, that's how the story behind it goes. It was the story Mike's parents told him. It was the story every parent told their children.

It didn't take long for the tree to grow. About a week or two, according to the villagers. The tree had a variety of different leaves all over it. Each colour represented a supernatural group.

Dark red for Vampires.

Pale green for Fairies.

Purple for Witches.

Navy for Werewolves.

Orange for Sorcerers.

And light teal for mermaids.

Some supernaturals like fairies and sorcerers actually have to go to the tree once in a while to regain their magic. Fairies call it dust, but sorcerers call it magic. They just have to pluck one leaf off the tree, and it will immediately absorb into your skin.

And another leaf grows of that same colour, so Omaria never runs out.

Basically when fairies lose all their dust, they can't fly or use their powers. When sorcerers lose all their magic, they can't cast spells or anything like that.

They say the Omarian Tree balances out the six genes of supernatural. It's not known what'll happen if the tree dies or if all the leaves of one colour fall off, but everyone is hoping that'll never happen.

After Zoey and Mike talked for several minutes, Mike finally stood up and stretched.

"How about we take a trip to the Woods of Eve?" He asked, pulling her up from the fountain ledge.

She grinned. "I knew you were going to ask that."

Mike rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah. I know I always want to go there. But c'mon, we could go look at the Omarian Tree, see how the pond sparkles around it. You don't find a tree that grew out of a pond very often."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in. "I know. And I'd love to go, but I have to finish brewing a mix for someone." She planted a small kiss on his lips.

"What is it this time?" Mike smirked, "A love potion someone's gonna use on Justin? Vampire sunscreen? Levitation? Ooh, maybe a cure for the plague."

Zoey giggled and brushed her nose against his, though she had to go on her tiptoes to do so. "No it's not any of those. It was actually someone out of this kingdom who ordered it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep. He said his name was Chris Mclean. He called me through my trusty ol' crystal ball, cause apparently, he's not actually in Omaria," she told him.

"Wow, a customer out of Omaria. That's a first," Mike joked.

She chuckled. "Yeah, but he's on a ship that's coming to Omaria. Said he'd be here by tomorrow morning," she stopped grinning and her eyes squinted, "he also ordered a Vile of Decease."

Mike frowned. "Decease? But that's only used to kill someone."

She nodded. "I know; I was shocked too. I asked him why, and he said he needed it for a different potion he was brewing. He told me the recipe called for a Vile of Decease, but he didn't have to ingredients to make it, so he just ordered it from me. He's coming to pick it up from me tomorrow morning."

Mike's brows knitted together. "Zoey, I'd be careful when he comes tomorrow. He can just take it right out of your hand and throw it at you…"

"I know, Mike. And I will be careful. I'll probably cast a Protector's Shield around myself before he comes," she told him, "but he sounded pretty honest. He even told me the name of the potion he was brewing, and I know that one calls for a Vile of Decease. So he's probably telling the truth."

He rested his forehead against Zoey's. "Ok. But just be cautious."

Zoey grinned. "I will, I promise." And she kissed him once more.


	3. Magic Brooms and Dreamy Messengers

"Ella, I told you a million times. Stop. With. The. Singing," Courtney shooed all the birds off the window sill with her broom, "It's attracting _so_ many animals!"

Ella giggled. "I'm sorry. It brightens my mood!" A bird fluttered onto her finger, and she let it go out the window.

Courtney on the other hand just threw the poor animals out. And Lindsay just screamed and ran away from them.

"Lindsay, they're not going to hurt you. They're birds. And squirrels. Squirrels don't bite," Courtney told the shrieking girl.

Lindsay stopped shrieking and looked at her. "Squirrels? Oh, I thought these were skunks."

"Guys, can we please get back to work? Queen Heather will literally _scream_ at us if we don't clean this place," Beth said from the other side of the room, still sweeping away all the shattered plate Lindsay had dropped before.

"Yeah, and stop petting the animals!" Courtney hissed, snatching the squirrel Ella was cuddling out of her hands and chucking it out the window.

Ella gasped. "Courtney! We're five stories high!"

"So?"

She huffed. "That squirrel is probably seriously injured!"

"Or dead…" Beth mumbled.

Lindsay brushed her hands on her long light brown skirt, that went with the chocolate brown torso with a big, white neckline. It was the palace maid's everyday outfit. But Lindsay accessorized a bit and put a white bandanna in her long, silky blonde hair. "Ella, are you sure you're not a mix?" She asked.

Ella brushed a strand of her black bob behind her ear. "I don't believe I am. I mean… It is a possibility."

"Hell yeah it is a possibility!" Courtney said, continuing on with her sweeping, "whenever you sing, some sort of animal shows up at the window. Not only that, but you can pet them too… And they're wild animals! You must be part fairy."

She shrugged and picked up her own broom. "I don't know. There's no fairy gene in my family. Well… Except for my great, great grandmother. She was half fairy, half vampire."

Beth walked over to them. "Then there you go. You probably have some fairy genes in you. Wild animals won't let any random person get close to them, let alone touch them. They only let fairies do that because they sense the ' _Nature-Connected'_ aura that fairies have. And only fairies have."

"Maybe…" Ella mumbled and started sweeping.

The four girls went on with their everyday maid responsibilities. Courtney, Ella, Beth, and Lindsay were only a quarter of all the maids in the palace. There were about sixteen in total, but the four girls never really spoke to any of them except for each other. They were all in the maid outfit, since it was against the law to wear anything else when working. Courtney was the most strict and aggressive out of the four girls. Ella was kind-hearted and gentle to everyone and everything around her. Beth was a bit more on the serious side, preferring to get things done right away, but she could let loose and have fun. And finally there was Lindsay, who suffers from bad memory-loss. She was friendly to everyone, but could become rather frustrating when she questioned everything multiple times.

" _Ugh_ , sweeping sucks," Lindsay groaned, "sometimes I wish Queen Hellen would just pick up a broom and sweep her own room."

"It's Queen _Heather_ ," Beth corrected, "but I second that."

Courtney grinned. "Well girls, there are perks to being a witch," she dropped her broom and rolled up her sleeves, "you can do this." And with that, she snapped her fingers, and her broom immediately lit up and started sweeping on its own.

"Man, I wish I was a witch," Lindsay whined.

"I wish I was at least _some_ sort of supernatural," Beth said, "I'm just a plain old human."

Lindsay put a hand on her shoulder. "Me too, Beth."

Ella smiled. "You guys shouldn't wish to be anything but yourselves."

Lindsay and Beth both scoffed and waved her off. "But being human is so boring," Lindsay said.

Beth turned to Courtney. "No but seriously, can you actually make our brooms sweep on their own too?"

Courtney chuckled and snapped her fingers once more. This time, all of their brooms lit up and started seeping on their own. They all started thanking Courtney, but suddenly Ezekiel (the very sloppy butler) came running into the room.

"Ezekiel, what do you want?" Courtney crossed her arms.

The short, pale-skinned boy tripped on his own feet and crashed to the ground. Courtney and Beth both snorted, trying to hold back laughter. Ella went to his aid.

"Sorry…" He mumbled as Ella helped him up, "But I was ordered to let you girls know that there will be a man coming into the palace in about five minutes, and you have to let him in and inform Queen Heather that he is here."

Lindsay cocked her head. "A visitor?"

"No, more like a messenger," he told her.

Courtney sighed. "Alright, then let's head on down to the palace doors."

The four girls left their sweeping brooms, and walked down the long hallway leading to the grand staircase. The hallway was fairly dark in colour, with a grey marbled floor, and plum walls covered with tall, thick pillars that were the colour of storm clouds. On the left side was just plain wall with a few windows, but on the right, just halfway down the wall, the wall opened up, revealing the huge ballroom. The girls began walking down the wide staircase, all bickering to one another. The staircase was wide, with a maroon carpet going all the way down the center of it. The stairs were right along the wall, but they curved just slightly near the bottom. And then there was the ballroom. The most breath-taking room in the whole palace. It was mostly shaped like an octagon, and had tall marbled pillars all over the walls. The floor was said to be a special type of glass made from a bunch of melted mermaid pearls.

Mermaid pearls are similar to regular pearls, except they're almost transparent, and contain a bit of magic in them. To match the maroon walls, they tinted the almost-transparent floor a darkish grey. Big windows were all along the room, with long thick curtains pulled back with golden ropes. The ceiling was the best part of the room. It was an enormous painting of Omaria. The palace right at the corner of the island, the road leading down from it to the small village where everyone lived, then the Woods of Eve covering nearly half the island. The small mountains on the far left side of the island. And of course, the part that stood out the most, the Omarian Tree. Right in the center. Surrounded by the shimmering pond, and the different coloured leaves all over it.

"I wonder if Queen Heather will ever throw a ball in here…" Ella sighed as she took in the breathtaking room.

"Yeah, she hasn't had one since she became Queen," Beth added.

Lindsay nearly tripped on the last step of the staircase. "A ball would be _so_ much fun! All the dancing, and the elegant gowns, and the amazing deserts, and all the…"

Courtney squinted at her. "The what?"

She sighed dreamingly, lost in thought. "The princes."

Courtney scoffed. "Princes? That's not why I want a ball. I just want one so us maids can actually get a break from cleaning for once."

"Yeah, but guess who's gotta clean it up after?" Beth pointed out.

"Us…" Courtney grumbled, her happiness fading.

They continued through the ballroom, and reached the big double doors that lead into another very wide hallway. On each side of the doors, there was yet another big hallway. The one of the left side lead to the maid's chambers, and the one on the right led to the throne room. Then, the one in the center led to the main palace doors. The doors that actually lead into the outside world, something many of the maids and butlers didn't see much of.

"So, Ezekiel said five minutes," Beth said, "it probably took us ten minutes to get here, so this man should be here any moment."

Lindsay, Ella, and Courtney snickered at her comment.

"Seriously, why does this palace have to be so big?" She asked, "I mean, there's only Queen Heather and all the service, but our chambers are about the size of her bathroom for heaven's sake!"

Now they were all laughing.

"Um, excuse me?"

The girls spun around and saw a young man standing behind them.

All of their jaws fell open. He was _gorgeous_. Slicked back dirty blonde hair. Emerald eyes. A defined jawline. Very tall, with a slim but buff build. A grey shirt tucked into a pair of light brown pants, with an aegean coloured cape that sat on his left shoulder, and ended at the ankles of his chestnut boots. A belt was strapped around his waist, and there was a sword in its holder on it.

"My name is Topher, I'm a messenger for Queen Heather. I have a message for her from her uncle," he told them, his soft lips forming a small smile.

"Right," Beth started, "and Queen Heather is expecting you?"

He nodded. His eyes landed on Ella and they stayed there for a minute. Ella stared right back at him. Courtney, Beth, and Lindsay looked back and forth between them staring at each other.

"Um… You have a message to deliver?" Courtney cut in to their anonymous staring.

"Yep," he blinked, looking away from Ella.

"The Queen is in the throne room," Beth pointed down the hall to the big set of double doors.

He smiled. "Thank you, oh-" he gaze went over to Ella again, "can I get your names in case I see you again?"

They all knew he was just asking to get Ella's name, except for maybe Ella herself, but they told him their names anyway. After that, he made his way to the throne room, and the three girls turned to Ella, all filled with excitement.

"Ok, what the heck was all that?" Courtney asked.

Ella blushed. "I… I don't know."

"He's totally in love with you," Lindsay squealed.

Ella's brow shot up. "What? He's definitely not-"

"Go talk to him when he comes out," Beth told her, a grim forming on her plump lips.

"N-no! I'm not gonna-"

Courtney linked arms with her. "Admit it. He was gorgeous."

Ella turned even pinker. "Ok fine. He was r-really… Handsome."

Lindsay squealed again. "We are so going to hook you up with him!"

"No. I'm a maid, he's a messenger of the Queen. Did you see what he was wearing? Better-quality material then this piece of junk," she held up her thin skirt, showing off the torn ends.

Beth patted her arm. "That doesn't matter, Ella. Hell, a king can choose to marry someone wearing dirt-covered clothes who's sleeps on the road if he wants. Money doesn't matter. Talk to him, if he doesn't give you a chance because you're 'scum material', then he's an idiot with no heart."

She gave Beth a small smile. "Thank you, but I think I'll pass."

Lindsay gasped as Ella started walking away. "Ella, this could be your Prince Charming!"

Ella turned around. "I really don't think so, Lindsay."

She kept going. "Think about it. You and him walking together through the Woods of Eve, then suddenly a vicious monster jumps out of the trees, lunging itself at you. But Topher saves you. He slices right through the beast, blocking it from your path! Then, you thank him… And kiss him!" She squealed at the last part, but stopped when she saw everyone staring behind her with wide eyes.

"What?" She turned around and saw Topher standing there, looking a bit flustered.

"Sorry, am I interrupting… Something?" His gaze landed on Ella.

Courtney took Lindsay's hand and started pulling her towards the doors that lead to the ballroom, and gestured for Beth to follow. "No, no. You're not interrupting anything at all, Ella was just… She just wanted to go take a walk in the gardens! So why don't you go join her? We…" She looked at Lindsay and Beth, "We have to… Go finish our chores, but Ella here has already finished all hers so she's free to go." With that, she pushed the two through the doors, leaving a very embarrassed Ella and a very confused Topher alone together.

Ella looked away from him. "I'm terribly sorry about that. My friends just get a little too excited about… Um, their chores sometimes."

Topher chuckled. "That's alright," he moved closer to her, "so you said you wanted to take a walk through the gardens?" He held out his arm, grinning.

She blushed. "You don't have to do this…"

"Don't worry, I want to."

She smiled up at him and linked her arm with his. Together, they walked out the palace and into the massive gardens. The sides were filled with mass amounts of flowers of every colour you could think of. To go along with those were finely trimmed bushed and mini trees. Then going down the center of the garden was a long, narrow pool of water, with fountains a meter apart from each other.

"So, how long have you been the Queen's messenger?" Ella asked.

The sun made his green eyes sparkle. "Just started last year after my older brother passed away. He was the previous messenger."

She rose her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm so sorry... I didn't know."

He smiled. "No need for apologizing," he cleared his throat before continuing on, "anyways, he was our only source of income. And with him gone, my mother and I wouldn't be able to keep our home down in the village, right by the cliff."

 _The cliff._ Ella thought about the little houses built right along the cliff side, right where the waves of the ocean crashed against the rocks. Those houses were known as the lucky houses. Because whenever the sun would set, you could see it perfectly from the window in any of those houses.

"So one day the guards from the palace came down to the house, and offered me the job. They told us my brother had done exceptionally well, and if I could do just as well as he could, I could keep the job. Since I was underage, everyone doubted it, but my mother kept motivating and encouraging me to keep going. So after a month, they told me the Queen agreed to let me keep the job," he looked down at Ella, a grin forming on his lips, "but, after my year of delivering messages to her majesty, I have never seen you or any of your friends around."

Ella chuckled. "Well, we're usually stuck sweeping or scrubbing the rooms in the upper levels."

"And when you're not?"

"Then we're in the maid chambers."

"And where are those?"

"Just left of the ballroom."

"When do you usually get your break?"

"Excuse me?"

"A break from cleaning?"

Her smile faded. The maids didn't get a break from cleaning and all their chores until late at night. Then they just went to bed and woke up early to start placing the table for the Queen, and drawing the Queen's bath, and making the Queen's bed, and setting up the Queen's gown for the day, and-

 _The Queen_. It was always for Queen Heather. It was never for any of the service that spends tireless hours cooking or cleaning or guarding or serving. It was just for her.

"We… Don't get a break. None of the service does," she said slowly.

His eyebrows shot up. "What? But don't you get a break during your lunch?"

"We don't get that big of a lunch. Just some bread and cheese and crackers," she told him, "we usually finish it in less than fifteen minutes then get straight back to work."

He stared ahead. "Huh…"

"What?"

"I've seen Queen Heather been served fancy meals a lot. Rare steak with a beautiful smelling gravy, delicious garden salad, the finest wine in the kingdom, perfectly toasted garlic bread, and much more," Topher squinted his eyes.

Ella shook her head. "Well, she is the Queen of our kingdom. We're respecting her by making her whole life perfect."

"But she should respect you too."

She nodded. "I know… But this is what we agreed to do for her."

After a minute of silence, they started bickering about their families, hobbies, and childhoods, each enjoying the presence of each other. However, their conversation died when they reached the end of the gardens.

Ella turned to face him. "Well, I should get back to my chores now."

He grinned. "I hope to see you again, Ella."

"And I you," she replied, staring into his dreamy eyes.

He picked up her pale hand and brought it to his lips. Tingles zipped down Ella's fingers and arm, all the way to her heart which caused it to flutter and the sudden movement. She blushed and gave him a small curtsy, before practically skipping up the wide stone stairs to the palace doors. She turned around just before she went inside, and Topher waved at her.

She waved back.


	4. Claws and Wings

As night drew and all the houses started turning off their lights for a goodnights sleep, a certain fairy wandered around the Woods of Eve. Dawn wasn't in complete darkness, for the fireflies lit up the entire forest, and a seemingly white glow auraed off of her during the night. She loved to come here during the night, especially when the moon shone down on the Omarian Tree, lighting it up in its whimsical glow. That's where she was heading right now, fluttering round the trees, and smiling at the little critters all snuggled in their nests, fast asleep. Her long, silky blonde hair was picked up from the tiny breeze to cool down the air, and the moon reflected off her silver eyes. The coolness in the air sent goosebumps up her pale arms. Her dark green tank top with a huge flower on the center of it didn't warm her very much. On the other hand, the brown hood with sleeves that ended at her elbows did a little bit. Didn't warm her very much, but it was better than nothing.

The high-low black skirt she wore flowed behind her, and Dawn was careful not to have it get caught on any branches. She reached the middle of the woods, where the Omarian Tree stood tall and proud. The little opened area was basically just the pond with the Omarian Tree growing out of it. The beautiful tree towered above all the others, glowing a mix of colours that lit up the water and the grass around it. She stopped fluttering and let her bare feet get tickled by the tips of the grass as she came down to stand on it.

Tip-toeing over to the glowing tree, she breathed in the calm night, and let it out again. Dawn reached the edge of the grass and dipped her toe into the warm water. She reached up and picked one of the green leaves off. It melted into her skin, and Dawn felt her dust immediately fill up. Then, she looked up at the spot she had just taken it off of, and saw the green leaf sprout back out again.

Fireflies lit up the world around her. Dawn flapped her wings and rose off the ground. She flew around the tree, around the pond, letting her fingers brush the water's surface. Setting back down on the grass, she took in one more breath.

"Well, h'llo again pixie," someone's voice startled her.

 _Scott_.

The one person who just had to be here when she was. She turned herself to face the werewolf and stiffened. He held a piece of wood in his bid hands that he had carved something into. A weird habit of Scott's, she learnt. When he got angry, he would carve wood.

"What happened this time? Did another rat get killed because of your foolishness?" She crossed her arms.

He scoffed and chucked the piece of wood into the trees, startling a few fireflies. Dawn glared even harder at him. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because many innocent trees are losing their limbs because of you."

Scott rolled his eyes. "You stupid fairies and your _'nature auras'_."

Dawn fluttered off the ground. "You should know that without us fairies, Omaria would fall."

"Without any supernatural creature, Omaria would fall."

She flew towards him. "That's a myth. With werewolves gone, Omaria would be in better condition. Trees would stop losing their limbs."

His jaw fell open. "Excuse me, but with werewolves gone, no one would be able to smell evil coming."

She came face to face with him. "Vampires can smell just as strong as werewolves, maybe even better. And what evil? There hasn't been any attacks in over a hundred and fifty years."

"Vampires can't smell as well as werewolves, I know that for a fact. And you never know when some lousy enemy can be lurking around the corner."

"Fine, werewolves have a greater sense of smell. But I don't believe we will be expecting any _enemies_ any time soon," she flapped her wing in his face.

Scott went after her. "Yeah but what about the Queen's uncle arriving tomorrow morning?"

"Scott, I doubt the Queen's uncle is going to turn out to be evil."

He came in front of her, and Dawn had to halt so she didn't bump into him. She came back down on her feet and looked up at him. She forgot how short she was compared to pretty much everyone in Omaria. He looked down at her and smirked.

"You're much shorter when you're not flying."

She huffed and moved around him. Scott grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back. The sudden act surprised her.

"We are not done our argument," he told her, half grinning.

"I think we are. I have come to conclusion that werewolves have brains the size of acorns," she told him, pushing away.

Scott huffed this time and grabbed her arm again. "That's a lie. Werewolves are the second strongest supernatural creature. And we can smell and hear things from miles away."

Dawn turned her head away, hiding a grin forming on her lips. "I'm glad you admitted that vampires are stronger than werewolves. But yes, you do have a point that werewolves are Omaria's little war dogs."

"Whoa, _war dogs_? I don't think so," he pulled her closer, and Dawn let him, "what about you fairies? You're like Omaria's gardeners."

Dawn was getting very close to him. Why was she letting him pull her closer? It's not like she had feelings for him.

Her breathe caught when she actually took a good look at him. His white muscle tee made his biceps look exceptionally toned, and his orange hair was slicked back and spiked at the top. He had a very defined jawline, and full lips.

"Damn pixie, really taking me in?" He smirked down at her.

Dawn gasped, turning red and pushed herself away. "Why would you care?" She turned and started walking away.

"You totally were. But I see why you did, because I am pretty handsome if I do say so myself," he caught up with her and did a little sidestep.

She rolled her eyes. "Ok, Scott," she said sarcastically.

Scott grinned. "What do you say me and you grab a drink?"

Dawn just about tripped over her own feet. "Excuse me?"

"Me, you. Get a drink. Tonight, at the Toadstool bar in the village."

Her jaw fell open. "You can't be serious."

Scott shrugged. "Well, why not?"

"We were just arguing with each other- and since when did you want to hang out with me? I thought we were supposed to 'hate' each other?" Her cheeks turned pink.

He grinned. "Arguing with you non-stop for the past week has really showed me a lot about you. And I dig it. And I think you dig me too," he stopped grinning and turned serious, "so, what do you say?"

A smile formed on Dawn's lips. She didn't know why, though. Was she happy Scott just asked her out? They only met a week ago, and all they did was argue whenever they saw each other. But he was kind of, maybe sort of… sweet in a way. Did Dawn really _dig_ Scott?

"I'm not much of a drinker…" She told him.

"Yeah, you didn't really strike me as one," he shifted, "then how about we just take a walk through the woods?

Maybe just one walk couldn't' hurt. "Ok."


	5. Onyx Ring

Bridgette was swimming so fast, she thought her mermaid tail might break off. She wanted to get to the open water before the sun rose, which would be very soon. Dawn was her favourite time of day. It just meant a new day was coming. A promise of more. A promise of hope. Watching it rise over the ocean was absolutely breath taking. She zoomed through the underwater tunnel, her tail brushing against some seaweed wiggling around on the sandy tunnel floor.

Omaria was full of underwater tunnels. Each tunnel was underground, and filled with water so the mermaids can swim through them. The tunnels lead to different lakes and ponds on the island. The most common one all the mermaids went through was the biggest tunnel, the one that lead to the small pond surrounding the Omarian Tree. But there were different ones too, such as the small pond beside the village that mermaids swam to if they wanted to greet their two-legged friends, or a few more small ponds around the Woods of Eve. The longest tunnel was the one that lead to the lake by the mountains, the one with the waterfall falling into it. Not many mermaids went there because it took so long to swim through the tunnel there.

Finally, Bridgette swam out of the tunnel and into the clear, aqua blue ocean. She surfaced and whipped her long blonde hair out of her face.

She was just in time.

The sun was just starting to rise, turning the ocean into a variety of shades of yellow, orange, and pink. She sucked in a breath of the fresh air. The actual air. Not the water she breathed in all the time.

Bridgette had always longed to be able to breath in the normal air. To have legs and feet. To be able to walk across the sand and feel it between her toes. But she couldn't. She was a mermaid. If she breathed in fresh air for more than three days, she would dry out. Sometimes, being a mermaid really sucked. Yes, the ocean was beautiful, but it got boring. With legs, you could walk anywhere. Go anywhere. You wouldn't be missing out on anything. You wouldn't have to keep secretly visiting your human boyfriend so you wouldn't get caught breaking the law.

Oh, and then there's the law about mermaids dating people with legs. It wasn't aloud. No one knew why, but it wasn't. Bridgette, however, was breaking that stupid law, by dating the sweetest man she had ever met.

Geoff.

She smiled at the thought of him. Geoff was one of Queen Heather's knights, so if they got caught together, his punishment would be much greater than Bridgette's. She thought of his silky blonde hair and his tall, buff build-

Bridgette's thoughts were caught off when she spotted a ship sailing towards the island. Curious, she swam towards it. Once Bridgette was close enough, she took a good look at it. It was big, with navy blue sails. She tried to see if anyone was on deck, but then suddenly she caught glimpse of something shiny falling off the side of the ship and into the water. Bridgette dove underwater and went after it, since the water at this part of the island wasn't too deep. She reached the bottom and looked around in the sand for whatever it was. Her fingers touched something cold, and she yanked her hand back. It was a ring.

Carefully, she picked the ring up off the sand and brushed it off. It had an opal in the center, surrounded by tiny little sapphires, and a gold band.

"Damn…" Bridgette mumbled to herself. Someone must have a lot of cash in they're pocket. She knew someone must be looking for it, so Bridgette surfaced and swam to the side of the ship.

"Hello?" She called up.

No reply.

She had to swim harder to keep up with the ship. "Um, excuse me? Is anyone up there?" She called again, louder.

Still no answer.

"Dammit-!" She dove back under the water and flapped her tail hard. Bridgette surfaced again and even though she was swimming very fast, she still couldn't keep up that much with the ship.

"Someone dropped a ring! I have your ring! Um…" Her voice faded into the air. No answer once again.

Bridgette stopped swimming and let the ship sail away. She looked down at the ring in her hand. What was she supposed to do with it? She couldn't keep this knowing that someone had lost it.

The ring glistened in her hand. It was very pretty.

She looked down at the tiny brown sack attached to her waist with some seaweed. She could store it in there for now until she found the owner. She didn't really have anywhere else to put the ring. She certainly didn't want to wear it, because that would be so wrong. And she didn't want to stuff it down her mermaid bra, because that was also so wrong.

Her mermaid bra wasn't much of a 'bra'. More of a cropped halter top. It was light blue with seaweed dangling from it. Her tail was a darker shade of blue, with transparent seaweed-like features dangling from it as well.

Bridgette sighed and placed the ring into her little bag. She decided to swim through the tunnel that lead to the Omarian Tree. If there was someone there, she might be able to locate the owner. Bridgette surfaced in the pond where the Omarian Tree stood. No one was there except-

"Geoff!" Bridgette called happily.

The knight turned around and grinned. He walked over to the water's edge and crouched down.

"Hey, Bridge."

She took his hand and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "How are you doing?"

Geoff grinned. "I'm alright. A bit tired."

"Why'd you get up so early?" Bridgette asked.

He shrugged. "I woke up very early and couldn't fall back asleep. I just… I don't know. I got this weird feeling."

She squinted. "About what?"

"I just woke up and felt uneasy," he rubbed his hand through his hair, "but maybe I'm just getting sick or something."

Bridgette placed her hand against his forehead. "You don't feel hot, but maybe I can't feel it 'cause I've been in the cold water for so long."

Geoff laughed. "Yeah, maybe." He looked at the sun poking through the trees, then back at Bridgette, "I should probably go. Don't wanna be late for the early morning knight round-up."

Bridgette sighed. "I wish I could walk with you. I wish I had legs. Instead I have-" She looked down at her mermaid tail, "-this lame thing."

"Aw c'mon, Bridge. Never wish to be anything but yourself," Geoff told her, "Having a tail is way cool."

"But it's keeping us apart."

He smiled sadly. "I know. And that is a downer, but I'm not gonna let some dumb law keep us from being together."

She shook her head. "I'm not talking about the law. Yes, that is part of it, but what I mean is that my home is underwater while yours in on land. We breathe different types of air. I can't go the places you can go and vice-versa."

The blonde knight closed his eyes. When he opened them, sadness washed over his face. "On land or in the ocean, I still love you the way you are. And I always will. There are factors with your mermaid tail and my legs that keep us apart, yes, but we don't have to let them bother us."

The mermaid smiled sadly. "I love you, Geoff."

"I love you too," he said and kissed her on the lips. "Now, I gotta go. Queen Heather's uncle is arriving this morning, so I better be there."

Bridgette giggled. "Alright, goodbye."

He got up and began walking towards the castle. Bridgette sighed, looking down at her tail. She really, really wished she had legs. Then things wouldn't be so complicated. Bridgette swam around the Omarian tree, watching the sun start to light it up.

"Stupid tail…" She murmured.

Finally, she dove under the water and swam back through the tunnel. As she was swimming, she noticed something on her middle finger. Bridgette stopped to examine it, but then gasped when she saw what it was.

The ring was on her finger.

But how? She was sure she put it in her pouch.

Bridgette just shrugged it off and placed the ring into her pouch for real this time, and then with a flick of her tail, she swam off.


	6. Stained Cloaks and Purple Blood

There were things in life Gwen could deal with. The bugs buzzing in her ears, a plate shattering whenever she dropped one, a stone in her shoe, even cracking a mirror. But a stain on her cloak?

"I think the hell not," the grumbled to herself as she hunched down over a pond and tried to clean the stain off. She had just bought a potion from the witch Anne Maria, a potion to help Gwen contain her magic for a longer period of time, but ended up spilling the brew all over her cloak.

"What a waste of money. Seems as though nothing ever goes right in my life," Gwen huffed.

"Then try going left," a voice spoke from behind her.

Gwen spun around and saw Trent smiling sheepishly at her.

"Heh, sorry. I know my jokes are pretty bad," he shrugged.

Gwen stood up from the ledge of the pond. "No, it's ok. I could use a little humor."

He looked down at her cloak. "Did a potion explode on you?"

"No, us sorcerers don't brew potions. Only witches brew them." She tried to hide the very noticeable stain, "I was just coming back from buying a potion, and I spilt it on myself."

The musician held back a chuckle. "Jeez, that sucks."

Gwen lightly shoved him for laughing, but ended up laughing herself.

"No, but I'm serious." Trent began as they started walking through the forest, "If you feel as though everything in your life isn't going right, go left!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She cocked an eyebrow.

He shrugged and ducked under a tree branch. "Well, just change your mindset. If you always think negatively about something, then the outcome is sure to be negative. Try thinking positive for once."

Gwen took that thought into consideration as she stepped over a log. "True enough…"

"I only speak the truth," he mused and Gwen giggled.

Trent hoped over a ditch in the ground. He turned and held out his hand for Gwen with a sly grin. Gwen rolled her eyes playfully and took his hand. The two bickered back and forth to each other for a few moments until they came to the edge of the Woods of Eve. The edge of the whole island actually. They were a good forty feet above the ocean below, and if they looked to their left, they could just see a few houses in the village.

"Nice day, eh?" Trent stretched his arms behind his head.

Gwen shrugged. "Meh."

He glanced at her. "Why 'meh'?"

She shrugged again. "I woke up with an off feeling."

"What?" His eyes widened.

"I don't know, when I woke up I just felt uneasy."

"Huh… That's strange." He looked out at the big ship sailing towards the island, "I passed Geoff when he was walking to the castle for the early morning knight round-up, 'cause who knows what he's been doing in the woods…" Trent half grinned, "But he told me he also woke up with an uneasy feeling."

Gwen squinted at the ship. "Yeah… That is strange." The ship was giving her a weird vibe. "Tell me, Trent. Have you ever seen a ship with navy sails?"

"Nope."

"Neither have I," she hummed as the ship docked. "Definitely not an Omarian ship."

They remained silent, both watching people unload off the ship and onto the dock. They were far, so they couldn't make out any faces, but they could definitely tell they were people. Someone came off the ship and appeared to be speaking to one of Queen Heather's guards. Then, a horse was brought up, and the person from the ship got on and rode away, followed by a group of their guards.

"Now who could that be?" Trent finally spoke after they could no longer see the person on the horse. "Omaria has never gotten many visitors from other kingdoms."

Gwen's short blue and black coloured hair was blown into her face. "I know. Trent, when you saw that ship, did it just give you a sort of _off_ feeling?" She pondered and brushed the hair out of her face.

"I thought that was just me," he simpered, looking relieved, "you felt that too?"

"Been feeling it all morning."

The musician ran his hand through his black hair that hugged his jaw. The wind picked up both his black cloak, and Gwen's blue cloak, but unfortunately his got caught on a branch in one of the trees behind them.

"Nice…" He muttered as he tried to pull it out.

Gwen giggled. Another gust of wind came. The sorcerer shivered and wrapped her cloak around her body. Her cropped black shirt and black short skirt didn't keep her wearing warm. At least she had tights underneath, and tall boots with fur on the inside. Her shirt was cropped, but it was also long-sleeved. The sleeves had blue letters of a different language on them. Only Gwen could read them. On the neck of the shirt was a sapphire. Her skirt had a belt around the waist, with two pouches on each side, and her tights were black and see-through.

"Wind has certainly picked up," Trent pointed out once he got his cape out of the branch.

"Maybe it's 'cause of the ship," Gwen jested.

He laughed, but then stopped. "What if it actually is?"

The sorcerer moved away from the edge of the forest. "Trent, I don't think-" She was cut off when a shrilling noise caught through her head. Gwen gasped and fell onto her knees, grabbing her head. Images started appearing in her vision, none which she could make out because they were all going by too fast. Hands were bursting out of the ground all around her, pulling her under. Gwen couldn't breathe. More and more images kept screaming around, but suddenly one image stopped.

Everything stopped.

Gwen was sitting in a ring of fire. Something was burning on her finger. She looked down and saw a ring on her middle finger. Furiously, she tried to pry it off, but it wouldn't budge. The gem in the center, which looked to be an onyx, kept changing from black to red. Gwen couldn't even see properly. Her hand kept shaking. A blood-piercing scream echoed around in her ears and then-

"GWEN!"

Gwen gasped and opened her eyes. Strong hands were gripping her shoulders. She was on the ground, how-

"Jesus, Gwen. Are you ok?" Someone asked.

She blinked twice until her vision cleared and she could see who was in front of her. It was Trent.

"Say something, please," the musician begged.

She rubbed her eyes. "Yeah… I'm ok."

Trent let out a breath of relief. "You scared the shit out of me. One minute you were walking away, and the next you were gasping on the ground."

"It was a vision. I had a vision," she told him.

He pulled her up. "Do you usually get those?"

Gwen shook her head. "No, not really."

"Jeez, what did you see?"

"At first I couldn't see anything, there were just so many things flying by…" She paused noticed she was sweating, "But then I was in this ring of fire, and on my finger was an actual ring. It kept changing colours from black to red… I don't know what is means."

Trent and Gwen began walking. "That's so-" Trent was caught off when someone shrieked and came cannonballing down right in front of them.

"Hey there lads and lasses!" Izzy bubbled, placing her hands on her hips.

Trent placed a hand against his heart. "Jesus, Izzy. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

The ginger grinned. "Whoops, my bad."

Two more people burst out of the trees.

"If you ever try to electrocute me again, I swear to god…" Eva growled and started marching up to Izzy's face.

Noah grabbed Eva's arm and held the crazy-strong werewolf back. "Alright, let's save the fighting for when Izzy tries to steal more bread loafs from the market."

Trent's eyes widened. "You guys were stealing?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Gwen muttered.

Noah looked at them. "No, _we_ were not stealing," he pointed at himself and Eva, "Izzy was the one who tried to 'permanently borrow' a loaf of bread from the market, but got tackled by a crowd of angry sales men. So Eva and I had to come in and pull her out before they shredded her."

"Yeah, and the basket-case nearly got us killed in the process," Eva sneered.

Izzy shrugged. "Hey, I didn't need you guys to come save me. I could've taken them easy."

"Yeah right," Eva scoffed.

"I could've! My lightning strikes were just about charged-"

Trent cut in. "You would've struck them with your lightning bolts?"

She looked at him. "Hell yeah I would've. They were getting my loaf of bread dirty."

"But your lightning strikes can kill people so easily," he reminded.

Noah raised his hand. "She would not have used her lightning strikes on them, would you, Izzy?"

Izzy hesitated.

"You wouldn't have, _right_?" Noah asked again.

The girl let out a dramatic sigh and fell into Eva's arms. "Alright, y'all caught me. No, I wouldn't have struck them with lightning."

"Thank you," Noah said and crossed his arms.

"I was considering it, though."

Eva groaned and dropped Izzy on the ground. "Izzy, your lightning strikes only get fully charged every two days. You shouldn't waste them trying to steal a loaf of bread."

Izzy brushed her mess of orange hair out of her face and looked up at Eva. "A sorcerer's gotta do what a sorcerer's gotta do."

"But you're not even a true sorcerer," Noah pointed out.

She huffed. "Excuse me, I am very much a true sorcerer."

"If you want a true sorcerer, look at Gwen and Noah," Eva said.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, you guys are like the three blind mice."

Eva shot her a glare. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Izzy jumped up. "We are not the three blind mice, we're team E-Scope!"

"Right... And who came up with this name?" Gwen crossed her arms.

Noah and Eva both pointed at Izzy.

"And who is the leader of this team?" She asked.

They pointed at Izzy again.

"You got that right," Izzy grinned her toothy grin, "call me _Explosivo_."

Trent and Gwen glanced at each other.

"Uh, where'd you get that name, Izzy?" Trent asked.

Noah groaned. "Don't even bother asking. This girl comes up with the strangest crap."

"I still don't see why you like her…" Eva mumbled.

"What?" Trent and Gwen both gasped at the same time.

Noah shot Eva a glare. "I-"

"Whoa, holy shit…" Trent laughed, "You have a crush on Izzy?"

Gwen burst into laughter. "Oh my god, this is so funny!"

"I-" Noah stuttered, looking extremely flustered.

Gwen wiped a tear from her eye. "Jeez, do you actually have a crush on Izzy?"

He turned cherry red. "I do not-"

"Uh, Noah?" Eva tapped on his shoulder, focused on something in the distance.

"What? Gonna shout out another secret of mine to the world?" Noah asked in annoyance.

She rolled her eyes. "No. Just look over there." She pointed to the edge of the forest where Gwen and Trent had just come from, and there was Izzy flying around on some sort of creature in the sky.

"Oh no…" Noah grumbled and ran to the edge.

Trent raised an eyebrow. "How did she even get on that thing?"

"I don't know, I was too busy laughing," Gwen snorted.

The three followed Noah to the edge of the forest and watched Izzy do not-so-planned stunt moves on the flying creature above the ocean below.

"Izzy, get back here this instant!" Noah shouted out.

The ginger stuck her middle finger up at him and kept riding.

"What type of creature is that anyway?" Trent asked.

Gwen shook her head. "Not sure, I've never seen it before."

Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning crashed out of the clouds, causing all four of them to jump, and it hit the creature. The creature screeched out and started to fall right towards them. Everyone screamed and jumped out of the way.

The creature crashed onto the ground just behind them, sliding a good five meters before it came to a complete stop. Then, Izzy jumped off the creatures back and brushed her hands off.

"WOO-HOO! What a ride!" She laughed.

Trent and Gwen glanced at each other again.

"What the actual hell…?" Gwen whispered.

"Did you just kill it?" Noah asked.

Izzy just shrugged. "I had to."

Noah marched up to her and the dead creature. "Are you insane? Oh wait, I already know the answer to that question. But still, why the hell would you kill it? You can't just go around killing creatures-"

"Noah, wait," Gwen spoke, "look at its blood."

The fed-up sorcerer looked to where Gwen was staring. His eyes widened. "Oh shit…"

The creature was pouring out dark purple blood.

"Yeah, that is definitely not a creature from Omaria," Trent cocked an eyebrow.

Izzy placed one foot on the dead creature and put her hands on her hips. "See, now I used my lightning bolts on something useful."

"Did you know it wasn't from Omaria?" Eva asked.

Izzy grinned. "While I was riding it, my blade accidentally cut into its skin, and I saw it started bleeding _purple_ blood," she held up her mini katana with the purple blood dripping off the end, "So I brought it down."

Noah shook his head in disbelief. "Wow…"

The ginger huffed and skipped by the dazzled bookworm, flipping her hair in his face. "And y'all doubted me."

"Wait a minute now, this could still be an innocent creature," He pointed out.

Izzy spun around. "Does that look like an innocent creature? Don't you remember the monsters that attacked Omaria one hundred and fifty years ago? They had purple blood as well."

Gwen hunched over the creature. Its skin was black, with tiny hairs sticking out all over the place. It looked like some sort of griffon, except the claws were much longer, and its tongue was also very long with a slit in the middle. Its eyes were also a weird yellowish, hazel colour, but the pupils were black instead of white.

"Have you ever seen this before?" She asked Trent.

He shook his head. "Nope."

"I'm telling you, the monsters that attacked the kingdom all those years ago are coming back," Izzy advised.

Gwen shook her head. "But why…?" And what was that vision she had? Her eyes moved towards the edge of the forest again. Slowly, Gwen stood up and walked until she was outside of the trees again, standing at the very edge of the forest. Her gaze landed on the ship that had just arrived.

She didn't know why, but something was extremely uneasy about that ship.


	7. Arrival

A soft breeze picked the witch's red hair up off her shoulders. Zoey stood on her balcony, enjoying the fresh air. Her home was on the cliffside of the village, so her balcony overlooked the ocean. She had a client who was supposed to be picking up his order for a Vile of Decease, but he hadn't showed up yet.

"He'll probably be here soon…" Zoey mumbled to herself. She lifted up her index finger and a tiny pink spark formed on it. Slowly, the witch twirled the little spark around her fingers, letting it tickle her.

Being a witch was cool and all, but sometimes Zoey felt as if all anyone cared about were purchasing potions from her. She was more than just a potion seller, she could cast all sorts of spells. Charms, curses, she could even make an object come to life. Mike had always questioned how she kept her home so clean, but her secret was just turning everything to life so they could clean up themselves.

Zoey then heard the sound of hooves clipping against the ground. She went to the side of her balcony and peered around the side of her house. Someone in a black cloak was getting of a horse right by her house. It must be her costumer.

Quickly, Zoey cast a protecting shield around herself (just in case her costumer did try to throw the Vile of Decease at her) and walked into her house. The protecting shield was invisible, so they wouldn't be able to see it. She walked down the narrow hallway that had two doors on either side of the walls. One lead into her bedroom, and the other lead into the bathroom. The hall lead into a big room. In the center at the other side was her front door, to the right of it was her small kitchen, and to the left was her living room with stairs that lead into her basement, which is where she had all her brewing equipment. As Zoey liked to call it, it was where her "inner-witch" came out.

Zoey waited for the knock on her door. Once her client knocked, she hurried to the door and opened it.

"Good morning, miss, are you Zoey?" The man asked.

Zoey gave him a small smile. "Yes I am, and you are Chris McLean?"

"That's correct," he grinned.

"Ah, so you're here for the Vile of Decease?"

He nodded.

"Ok, why don't you come in while I go get it for you," Zoey held the door open for the man. Her eyes widened when she saw two guards standing at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to her porch and front door. The taller guard, a woman, gave Zoey a stern look.

"It's alright, Scarlet and Max," he turned to seemingly _his_ guards, "I won't be long."

"Um…" Zoey murmured as Chris walked into her house. She closed the door behind them and saw Chris taking off his hood to reveal his slicked back, black hair.

"Don't mind my guards," he smiled at her.

Zoey blinked. She hadn't noticed before, but Chris was wearing very fancy, and most likely very expensive clothing. A thick black cloak with white fur lining all around it, and on the center where it clipped around his shoulders was a pure gold big button. Under his cloak was a long-sleeved white shirt with the ends rolled up slightly, and over that shirt was a blue half jacket that buttoned down his torso. Ha had on a pair of silky black gloves, and his pants were a yellowish-brown colour. He had a brown belt with a long sword in its keeper, and finally, he had on a pair of tall black boots.

"So, the potion?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes!" Zoey chirped and hurried down the stairs. She walked across her basement and grabbed the Vile from the little table it was on.

"Here you are," she smiled as she came back up the steps.

He took the vile from her. "Thank you so much. How much again?"

"Four coins."

Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out five bronze coins. He handed them to her.

"Oh, it's only four coins," Zoey told him.

He shook his head. "It's ok. Take all of them. Consider it a tip."

She sheepishly took the coins. "Thank you…"

"Now, I must be on my way. Pleasure doing business with you, Zoey," he grinned as he walked out her door.

Before she could reply, he slammed the door shut. Zoey heard a couple horses neigh, and then they were trotting away. She moved over to her window and watched as Chris and his two guards rode away. They were heading towards the palace.

"What's Chris McLean going to the palace for?" She asked herself. She shrugged it off and continued on her day.

* * *

"You ladies are the absolute _worst_ maids in the entire world!" Heather screeched at the baffled Lindsay and Beth, "Why in Omaria did you think it would be a good idea to put scented soap in my bath!? You know I have a reaction in certain areas!"

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am-" Beth started.

"I don't wanna hear it!" The queen snapped, cutting her off. "You two have shown a lack of respect to me the last couple of days, but you really screwed me over this time-"

Suddenly, Ezekiel burst through the big double doors. He hurried over to Queen Heather, huffing and puffing.

"Your majesty, I have come to tell you that your uncle has arrived," he informed as he quickly bowed down.

Queen Heather's eyes widened. "Oh! Of course…" She turned to Beth and Lindsay, "If you two put scented soap in my bath one more time, I'll have you thrown in the dungeons!" She flung around, whipping her long black hair in their faces and marched out of the throne room.

Beth rolled her eyes. "As much as she says she will, I know the woman doesn't have the gut to put us in the dungeons."

Lindsay sighed. "I just wish she wouldn't scream at us like that. I think my eardrums are damaged."

Beth snorted. She looked at Ezekiel. "Ezekiel, how do you feel about the queen?"

"Huh?" He snapped out of whatever daydream he was in, "Oh… I'm not sure I have an opinion on her… But I know she doesn't like me."

"With you picking your nose all the time, I can see why," Beth pointed out.

Lindsay snickered.

"Well I gotta get the bats outta the cave somehow, eh?" He shrugged.

"Ew!" Lindsay shuttered.

"That's disgusting, Ezekiel," Beth scrunched up her nose.

The butler half grinned. "Everyone picks their nose, eh?"

Beth and Lindsay both hesitated.

"My point exactly," he smirked.

Lindsay scoffed. "Well at least we don't do it in front of people!"

"Yeah but-" He was cut off when the doors burst open again, and in walked Queen Heather with another man and a few guards.

The three all straightened up and turned their attention to the new royalty that had just walked in.

"Uncle, may I introduce Ezekiel," Heather gestured to her butler.

Ezekiel hurried up to the man and bowed. "At your service, sir."

"And those are just two of my maids who _should_ be getting back to their work…" Heather narrowed her eyes.

Lindsay and Beth quickly curtsied to both Queen Heather and her uncle, then hurried out of the room.

"I'm terribly sorry about them. Sometimes my maids can get a bit distracted," Heather shook her head.

"Do not worry, my dear, I'm sure my being will make them a bit less distracted," he chuckled.

Heather laughed nervously, quickly wiping her sweaty hands on the back of her dress. "Ezekiel, why don't you show Sir Chris McLean to his quarters?"

"Oh, not now. Why don't you just take my things to my quarters, I wish to speak with my niece for a bit," Chris held up his hand.

"Yes sir," Ezekiel bowed and picked up his luggage, hurrying out of the throne room.

Chris rubbed his hands together and looked at his niece. "Now, how about you and I do some catching up?"


	8. Thief

Courtney walked down the village paths, making her way to the market. Queen Heather had sent her to go fetch some red wine, as a gift for her uncle's appearance. This was Courtney's first time being outside the palace walls in a while. It really felt good to breathe in fresh air. She felt bad that Beth, Ella, and Lindsay didn't get to come along, but Courtney was still glad it was her who got to go into the village. She hadn't even been to the market, let alone the village, in such a long time. Her mother would always walk with her into the market when she was a child, buying her loafs of bread.

"Good memories…" Courtney smiled to herself.

She finally reached the market area, and walked up to a man selling fine wines behind a stand.

"Good day, ma 'dame, how may I help you?" The man smiled at her.

"Um, I'm looking for a good red wine," she told him.

"Well, you can either get the Octavia wine, which has more of a tangy taste, or the Bloodmoon wine, which is sweet but a tiny bit bitter in the aftertaste," he held up the two wine bottles.

"I'd go with the Bloodmoon," a voice spoke from behind her.

Courtney turned and saw a man leaning against the stone wall right by the stand she was at. He had odd hair that was black and shaven short at the sides, but then spiked up at the top of his head, and the tips of the spikes were green! Courtney had never seen such a hairstyle.

"Why the Bloodmoon?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "It has a bitter taste, and from what I hear, it will match the Queen's bitter attitude."

The man behind the stand sucked in a breath. "Better not insult the queen 'round here, lad. Ya never know what ears could be listening."

The green-haired man shrugged again. "I don't really care. I've been in those dungeons before, they don't scare me." He looked back at Courtney, "So, what shall it be? Bloodmoon?"

Courtney blinked. "Uh… I'll go with the Bloodmoon please."

The man smiled. "Alright, Bloodmoon it is." He shoved the wine into a paper bag and handed it to her, while Courtney gave him three coins in return. "Have a good day, lass."

"Thanks, you too," Courtney smiled and started walking away.

The green-haired man suddenly appeared by her side. "So. What's a fair maiden like you doing out and about in the village?"

"You heard me, I'm here to pick up a wine for the Queen. And now that that's done, I should be heading back to the palace," she sashayed ahead of him.

He caught up and did a little side step. "This your first time being out?"

"Of course not. I lived in this village when I was a little girl."

He chuckled. "No, I meant since you became a maid for the Queen."

"Oh… Well, this is my first time in a while," she sighed.

"And now you have to go back."

She glanced at him. "Who are you, anyway?"

"The name's Duncan. And you are?"

"Courtney."

Duncan grabbed a piece of bread off a stand they just walked by and took a bite out of it.

Courtney gasped. "Duncan-! You can't just steal someone's bread!"

He grabbed her arm and started moving her away from the stand when the lady selling the bread looked over at them, but Courtney pulled away.

"Excuse me, get off me!" She hissed, "Go give the bread back to the woman."

"It's not like anyone noticed," he shrugged and stuffed more into his mouth, "Besides, it's already in my mouth."

She scoffed. "You're such a pig. And a thief."

He rolled his eyes. "I probably need the bread more than she does."

Courtney crossed her arms. "Like I'm going to believe that."

He looked at her for a while and then shrugged. "Alright, I'll just be on my way, then."

She watched him walk away and was about to turn to go her own way, but then she stopped and ran after Duncan. "Wait a minute, what you said was a lie, right?"

"What?"

"When you said 'I need it more than she does' or something…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why would I lie?" He continued walking.

Courtney caught up with him again. "Wait, so you're saying you have no bread in your house?"

He let out a sarcastic laugh. "I have no anything in my house. I don't even have a house."

They walked in silence out of the village and into the Woods of Eve.

Courtney then spoke. "Oh… I'm sorry. But stealing is still bad."

He rolled his eyes. "I promise I won't do it again, princess."

She huffed. "Yeah right, punk. I'll have you know that I could report you to the Queen, and then you'll be back in those dungeons."

Duncan looked down at her and a smirk formed on his lips. "You're pretty tough, princess."

She blinked. "Huh? That has nothing to do with-"

He held up his hand. "Wanna just take a walk through the Woods of Eve for a bit? Or do you _have_ to be back right away…?"

Courtney blinked again. She did kind of have to be back right away, but did she really want to go back to scrubbing floors and getting yelled at by the Queen? This was her first time outside the palace in years, and probably her last time too. But she didn't even know this guy. What if he was going to kill her? She looked at him. He was very handsome…

"Oh hell, sure," she told him.

He grinned. "Alright."

The two ventured deeper into the Woods of Eve, telling each other a little bit about themselves. Courtney knew she was going to be in trouble when she got back, but what the hell. This was her first and last day of freedom. She was gonna make it count.

* * *

"I cannot believe you actually have the _guts_ to come back here again!" Heather hissed at the werewolf sitting on her window sill.

Alejandro smirked and placed his arms behind his head. "I'd do anything just to see the Queen again."

She felt her face heat up so she turned away. Good god, he was so damn handsome. "You have to leave."

"But do you really want me to leave?" He asked, standing up.

She crossed her arms, still not facing him. "I..."

"Or are you telling me this because your mother would be very upset if you broke the little law she made…?"

She could feel his breath of her shoulder. Heather shut her eyes. Did she really have to follow some stupid law? Who was she kidding, she was queen, she could do whatever she wanted. She could bloody well change the law. But changing it would mean disobeying her mother. Her mother told her when she was a child that if a member of the royal bloodline ever broke the law that she made, bad things would happen. What sort of bad things? Heather had no clue. Maybe she just said that to scare her. Her mother had always been a very intolerant woman.

"Mi amor?" Alejandro whispered into her ear, sending chills down her arms.

Heather finally made her decision. She spun around, grabbed his face and planted her lips onto his. Alejandro was surprised at first, but then he deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Once Heather pulled away, a hot tingly feeling was left on her lips. "That…"

"What, mi amor? Was kissing a werewolf everything you hoped for?" He rubbed her shoulders.

She smiled and closed her eyes. "Maybe…"

Suddenly, Ezekiel came knocking on the door, breaking the mood. "Your majesty? Your dinner is served."

Heather shoved Alejandro out the window. "Of course, I'll be down in a minute!" She waited until his footsteps were gone and then ran over and looked down her window. Alejandro was hanging from her window.

He looked up at her. "Y'know, your majesty, there are better ways to get a person out of your room then pushing them out a window."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and then planted a kiss on his head, "Now leave."

He grinned and started climbing down. "I'll be back, but I guess you already know I will."

A small smile formed on Heather's lips. "I'll be waiting…"

* * *

"How in God's green earth am I supposed to read this!?" Noah held up the sheet of paper Izzy had written for him, but her writing was just a bunch of horrible scribbles.

She shrugged. "You asked for my grocery list, and so I gave you my grocery list."

He groaned. "You're brutal, y'know that, right?"

"Believe me, I'm well aware." She grinned and started skipping in a circle around him.

Eva grumbled and grabbed both their hands, pulling them forward. "Come on, you two rascals. Let's just go to the market tomorrow morning."

Noah pulled away. "But we need groceries!"

"Quit being such a mom, Noah. We'll just go get them tomorrow morning," Eva said.

"Ugh… You guys are so ugly."

Eva rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."

Izzy wrapped her arm around Noah's shoulders. "Oh, my feet can't carry me anymore. It's too much weight…" She started leaning against Noah so he had to put one of his arms around her to keep her from falling.

He cocked an eyebrow at Eva. "And you call me dramatic?"

The red-head started falling over. She wrapped both her arms tightly around Noah's waist and let him drag her across the ground. "My feet are broken."

"Can you like, stop being stupid?" He asked in annoyance.

"Can you like, stop being ugly? Oh wait, that's impossible for you."

Noah's jaw fell open. "Um, excuse me-"

Eva burst into laughter. "Oh shit, she got you bad!"

Izzy giggled. "I'm here all day!"

Noah unwrapped her arms from his waist and let her smash onto the ground. "You should know that I had a bunch of girls crushing over me when I was little." He said after they had stopped walking.

Izzy lifted her head from the ground. "Oh yeah?"

He nodded. "One girl even chased me around the village one time."

Eva frowned. "And did this girl happen to have orange hair?"

"Yeah, I think she did."

"And did this girl happen to have a toothy grin?"

"I think…" Noah's voice trailed off, his eyes wondering to Izzy smirking at him from the ground.

Eva crossed her arms. "You're such an idiot, that was Izzy!"

Noah's eyes widened in disbelief. Izzy was the one who chased him around the village? He had been so scared that day, the little girl was trying to hug him, but Noah didn't want her to. His mind wondered back to that time. Little Izzy eventually caught up to him and tackled him over. But, instead of hugging him, she had kissed him. Then, little Izzy ran away and Noah never saw her again, at least until they became friends ten years later.

"You… You were that little girl?" He looked at Izzy.

Izzy shrugged. "I guess so."

Noah shook his head. "I never saw you again after that day. But then, ten years later, I became friends with you and I didn't even know you were… Well, you were you."

Eva made a face at him. "You didn't know Izzy was the little girl? Wow, and you call yourself smart."

He shot a glare at her. "I never really got a good look at her!"

"Yeah ok, stringbean."

Noah rolled his eyes and turned back to Izzy. "Are you proud of what you did? You were my first kiss."

She stood up and grinned. "I don't know if that's supposed to be something to be proud of. You weren't even a good kisser."

He huffed. "Excuse me, I'm a great kisser."

"Have you ever kissed a girl since that day?" She crossed her arms.

"Well no…"

Izzy giggled and began walking away from him, Eva followed her. Noah huffed again and ran after them.

"I'm a great kisser…" He pouted.

Izzy snorted. "I'm sure you are, Noah, I'm sure you are."


	9. Cocky

Beth stretched her arms above her head. "Phew, finally done sweeping for that night."

"Yeah, but then we're up bright and early to start all over again," Courtney reminded.

Lindsay moaned. "My arms are so sore. Can't we just have a day off?"

Ella chuckled. "I wish, but Queen Heather would never allow it, especially now that her uncle's in town."

"Speaking of her uncle," Beth started, "did you guys notice anything off about him?"

Courtney shrugged. "I sort of did… I caught him carrying a Vile of Decease earlier."

"He kept staring at my boobs when I served him breakfast," Lindsay frowned.

Beth's eyes widened. "What? Really?"

She nodded.

"Jheez, what a creep," Beth crossed her arms.

Lindsay suddenly gasped. "Wait, I'm supposed to meet…" Her voice trailed off and her cheeks turned pink.

"Huh? Meet who?" Courtney raised her eyebrow.

"N-no one," the girl stammered. She quickly looked around and then started hurrying away from Beth, Ella, and Courtney. "I have to, uh… I'm really tired, so I'm gonna head to bed. See you guys tomorrow!" She turned around and ran out the throne room.

Beth squinted. "What was all that about?"

"Did she say she was going to meet with someone?" Ella asked.

Courtney nodded. "Yes, but who?"

The three girls started walking. "Heh, Lindsay's got a secret boyfriend," Beth joked.

"Speaking of boyfriends," Courtney turned to Ella, "how are things with you and Topher?"

She blushed. "He's not my boyfriend, Courtney."

Courtney grinned. "But he will be soon. We'll make it happen."

Ella hid her smile. "Topher, he's… He's really sweet."

"Awwww," Beth and Courtney cooed at the same time.

Beth nudged Courtney in the arm. "Well, speak of the devil."

Courtney looked and nearly burst out laughing from the irony. Topher was walking down the hall towards them.

"Hello ladies," Topher smiled when he reached them. His eyes locked on Ella.

"Hello," Ella blushed.

"You here to deliver another message to the queen?" Beth asked.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Uh, no, actually I came to speak with Ella."

All the girls stopped breathing. Courtney snorted and shoved Ella forward. "Well, she's free to talk."

"Great," Topher smiled down at her.

Ella shot the two girls a slight glare but then smiled back up at Topher. "Are you even supposed to be here?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Well, not exactly. I kind of snuck in. I just really wanted to see you again."

Her face turned cherry red. She gestured him towards the palace doors. "Come, we can go outside so there's less of a chance you'll be caught."

The two headed down the hall. Courtney and Beth looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Oh my god, that's so ironic!" Courtney wiped a tear from her eye.

The two walked into the maid's chamber and sat down on their beds. The maid's chamber was shaped like an octagon. They had their own bathroom, but it was tiny. There was a small balcony on the outside of their chamber, with two glass doors that lead to it. Each maid shared a bunk bed with another maid. Courtney shared one with Ella, who slept on the top bunk, while Beth shared one with Lindsay, who slept on the bottom bunk. Their beds were right next to each other along the wall.

Beth climbed the ladder onto her bed. "I'm still wondering who Lindsay was meeting with. The girl usually tells us everything."

Courtney sat down on her own bed. "I know, weird-" She was cut off when a small pebbly hit the glass door to the balcony.

The girls looked at each other and then back at the door. Another pebble hit it.

"What the hell?" Beth started.

Courtney stood up and walked over to the doors. She slowly opened them and peered down the balcony. Her jaw dropped. There, standing on the ground below her, was Duncan.

"Duncan, what-?" Courtney spoke loudly at first but then quieted herself down in case someone heard her, "What are you doing here?"

He smirked. "I came to see you."

"What… You did…?" She whispered.

"Who is it?" Beth appeared next to her and looked down at Duncan. Her eyes widened. She looked back and forth from Courtney and Duncan. "Wait, you- You have a man now, too?"

"Shhhhh!" Courtney hissed, "First of all, he's not my man, second of all-"

"Uh, Courtney, can you hurry it up a little?" Duncan called quietly, noticing a couple guards coming his way.

Courtney looked at the guards, then at Beth, then at Duncan. Was she really going to go with him? He was good company…

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Beth hurried her up.

Courtney huffed and pulled herself over the railing.

"You better tell me everything when you get back," Beth whispered into her ear and then went back into the room, closing the doors behind her.

Courtney rolled her eyes and turned back to Duncan. "And how do you expect me to get down, exactly?"

"Well you're already half way there," he teased. Duncan held his arms up, "Jump. I'll catch you."

She recoiled. "Are you kidding?"

"I promise I'll catch you."

"It's too high, there's no way."

"It's not that high. Just trust me," he told her.

"No!"

"Just jump!"

"Ugh," Courtney quickly looked around to make sure the cost was clear. She took a deep breath and then jumped. When the world stopped spinning, Courtney realized she was in Duncan's arms. And he was grinning down at her.

"Almost dropped you there," Duncan said.

Courtney rolled her eyes playfully and hoped out of his arms. "Well then, why did you come to see me?"

They started walking. "Thought you could use my company. You seemed to really enjoy it yesterday," he stretched his arms behind his head.

She scoffed. "Are you always this cocky?"

"Maybe."

Courtney hid her grin. "Alright, Duncan."

They bickered back and forth while walking along the sides of the palace, making sure not to be caught. The moon was high in the sky, nearly a full one. Courtney was still confused as to why Duncan came to see her. Was it just to talk? But why would he risk getting caught just to come see her? They only talked once. But, they had talked for a long while. Courtney had learned a lot about him, and he had learned a lot about her. She didn't mind being in his presence. Even though he had odd hair, Duncan was fairly handsome. He wore a dark cloak with a hood over top of a ripped black muscle tee, and then navy pants.

"So, I heard the queen's uncle is here," Duncan said.

Courtney nodded. "Yeah. He seems nice. But the girls and I have caught him doing strange things."

"Such as?"

She rubbed her hands up her goosebump-covered arms. The night was chilly. "Lindsay said he was staring at her chest when she was serving him breakfast, and I saw him carrying a Vile of Decease…"

"Isn't that only used to kill someone?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah! That's what I thought, but then again, he might be using it for another spell or something," she said and shivered slightly when a breeze came.

Duncan looked at her and unclipped his cloak. He set it on her shoulders.

"Oh, you don't have to," she smiled sheepishly.

He waved her off. "Don't worry about it."

The moonlight caught Duncan's very defined biceps, and Courtney couldn't help but blush. She clipped the cloak around her neck and cleared her throat. "So, have you lived in Omaria your whole like?"

"Pretty much," he shrugged, "How 'bout you?"

Courtney nodded. "My mother would always take me into the market when I was younger to buy loafs of bread," her mind wondered back to her childhood. A frown crept across her face. "I became a maid for the queen when I was thirteen."

Duncan looked down at her. "Why so young?"

She stared at the ground as a lump formed in her throat. "My mother passed away. I had nowhere else to go. No one to live with. So, the queen took me in as a maid. It isn't the greatest home, but at least I've got food and a roof over my head-" she realized what had just come out of her mouth and looked up at Duncan. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, no. It's fine," he assured. He remained silent for a moment and then spoke. "My parents went on a voyage when I was nine, but they got lost at sea." His gaze hardened. "I didn't wanna be stuck living in some orphanage with some caretakers that hardly cared for me, so I lived out in the woods."

Courtney's heart felt for Duncan. He didn't have a home. He didn't have a family. Without thinking, she took his hand and held it. After a second, Duncan squeezed her hand back. He grinned at her.

"Warming up, are you?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Don't ruin the moment."

They stayed together for a couple more minutes, but then headed back to the balcony. They were almost there, but then they ran into two people making out.

"Oops, sorry…" Courtney's voice trailed off when she saw who the girl was. "Oh my god, Lindsay!?"

"Shhh!" Lindsay hissed and gestured to the guards close by.

Courtney looked at the man holding Lindsay. It was one of Queen Heather's guards, Tyler. "Holy shit, so _this_ is who you snuck out with?"

The blond turned pink. "Um…"

"I knew it! I knew you had a secret boy-"

"Well who exactly is this you're with?" Lindsay looked at Duncan.

Now Courtney turned pink. "Um…"

Lindsay smirked. "Are you supposed to be one the palace grounds?" She asked Duncan.

Duncan shoved his hands down his pockets. "Took a wrong turn in the village. Don't know how I got here."

Lindsay giggled. "I promise I won't tell."

Duncan grinned and held out his hand. "I'm Duncan."

"Hello Duncan, I'm Lindsay," she shook his hand, "this is Tyler," she gestured up to the man holding her.

"Hey," Tyler smiled and shook both Duncan and Courtney's hands.

"You're a knight here?" Duncan asked him.

Tyler nodded.

"Well, I can see you're doing a very good job at keeping guard," he joked.

Tyler rolled his eyes playfully. "Just don't snake on me, ok?"

"I won't, dude."

Courtney cleared her throat. "Well then, we should be getting back so the punk here doesn't get caught."

"Ok, Princess," Duncan rolled his eyes.

They waved goodbye to Tyler and Lindsay and left.

Courtney squealed when they were out of sight of them. "Holy crap, I can't believe Lindsay is hooking up with Tyler!" She turned slightly embarrassed when she realized she was still with Duncan, "Oops, sorry. That's more of a girl conversation."

He shrugged. "Nah, it's ok. Is Lindsay another maid here?"

She nodded. "Me, her, and a few others are. There are two others named Beth and Ella that we're close friends with." Her voice trailed off when she spotted Ella sitting with Topher in the garden. "Speaking of Ella, that's her right there."

Duncan squinted. "Hey, I know that guy. Topher, right?"

"Yeah. How do you know him?"

He grinned. "Tried to steal a letter opener off of him."

Courtney's eyes widened.

He burst out laughing. "I'm joking, relax. I know him because we ran into each other the other day and just sort of struck up conversation."

"I see," Courtney gave him a taunting look.

"Shhhh!" Duncan suddenly hissed and knelt down.

"What?"

"Guards!" He whispered and motioned her behind a bush. They were right by the palace doors, and two guards were standing on the stone pathway speaking to one another. "Shit, shit, shit, shit-" Duncan cursed as they moved closer to him and Courtney.

"Wait-!" Courtney held up her hand for him to stop talking. She moved her head to the side and tried to listen to their conversation.

"Do you really think this plan is going to work?" The male guard asked the other one.

The female guard scoffed. "I've seen him do terrifying spells and curses on people before, trust me, this plan is for sure going to work."

"But I mean… It's the queen. And she's a vampire. Vampires are pretty strong."

Courtney slowly peered over the bush to get a better look at the guards. The female was taller and had striking orange hair and a sharp jaw. The male had light purple hair and was stunt. She recognized them. They were Chris' bodyguards.

"Yeah, but he has a Vile of Decease. That kills someone in an instant," the woman responded.

Suddenly, the palace doors opened and two of Heather's guards walked out. Courtney recognized them as Jo and Brick, the pair that were constantly fighting with each other.

"Hey! What are you two doing out here?" Jo pressed.

The female rolled her eyes. "Relax, Jo-jo, we were just getting some air."

Jo practically growled. "Do not call me Jo-jo, Scarlet."

Brick stepped between the two. "Ok, let's calm down here. You and Max just go back inside, ok?"

Max stepped up to Brick. "How is it your place to tell us what to do?"

Brick's eyes sharpened. "This is not your kingdom. Cause any disruption and I'll have you hanged right away."

Courtney caught Scarlet's eyes shimmer for a slight second. Was Scarlet a witch?

"Come on, Max. Let's leave these two to have their private make out session," Scarlet smirked and pulled Max up the palace steps.

Jo growled and curled her hands into fists. "I hate those two. I can't wait until Chris leaves."

"I second that," Brick said as they began walking the opposite direction of Scarlet and Max.

Once all the guards were out of sight, Courtney burst up from the bush. "What in the freaking Omaria!?" She practically screamed.

"Shhhhh!" Duncan held up his hands to try and quiet her.

She slapped his hands away. "Did you hear what they were talking about? What did they mean by all of that?"

Duncan rubbed his eyes. "I don't know, Courtney, but let's not jump to any conclusions, here."

Courtney groaned and jumped over the bush they were hiding behind. "There, that was me jumping to a conclusion, and the conclusion is that Queen Heather may be in danger."

"So… What are we going to do?"

She shook her head. "I don't know," she thought for a moment, "Maybe I'm overthinking it. Maybe its not what I think. Besides, even if I told the Queen she wouldn't believe me."

Duncan cocked an eyebrow. "Why not?"

She pointed to herself. "Hello? I'm a maid. She'll probably think I'm jealous that she's queen or something."

They started walking. "Jeez, sounds fun to work for Queen Heather."

Courtney laughed sarcastically. "Yup." She swiftly glanced up at Duncan, only to find him staring right back at her. "What?" She giggled.

He grinned. "You know you turn red when you're mad?"

Her smile faded and she hid her face. "Shut up, I know it does." Her hands were slowly moved away from her face, and Courtney looked up into Duncan's eyes, and dammit if his eyes didn't just about take her breath away. "You gonna make fun of it some more?" She rose an eyebrow, trying to challenge him.

He grinned. "No. I'm gonna do something else to it." He slowly closed the space between them and planted his lips onto hers. Courtney closed her eyes and embraced his soft lips. She hadn't been expecting that, but boy, did it ever feel so magical.

Courtney suddenly pulled back. "What the hell? What do you think you're doing?"

Duncan smirked and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Don't even try to get angry with me. You liked it and we both know it," he took a step closer to her, "I'm a good kisser anyway, who wouldn't enjoy it?"

She scoffed. "You are too cocky"

"You like it."

A smile appeared on her lips and without thinking, Courtney pulled Duncan back and pressed her lips onto his. She ran her hands through his hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist. His tongue entered her mouth and sensation rang through the both of them. Courtney heard a slight hum from Duncan.

She pulled away for a brief second. "You're a werewolf?"

He smiled. "You caught me."

She giggled and they went back to kissing. Courtney wanted the moment to last forever, but a sudden murmur from a few guards nearby made them pull apart.

"Damn," Duncan mumbled and ran his hand through his hair. He looked at Courtney. "Well… Now I know you're a good kisser too. I shall return tomorrow." He winked and did a dramatic bow, then ran off.

"So you're cocky and extra!?" She called after him.

"You still like it!" He called back, his voice faint.

She grinned and watched him disappear into the night. The guards finally rounded the corner of the palace and saw her standing there, still smiling.

"Are you ok, ma'am?" One of them asked.

Courtney didn't even look at them. "Yes. I'm great," she turned away and walked back into the palace, forgetting all about the possible danger her Queen might be in.


	10. Truths

His strong hands pressed her arms up against the walls as his warm lips bounced on her lips. Heather moaned with delight as Alejandro's tongue danced with hers. She squeezed his back as his fingers moved the sleeves of her gown down her shoulders. She ran her hands through his dark silky hair. Heather heard the hum come from his chest, the hum that only werewolves could make when receiving pleasure. Another moan escaped her lips. She didn't want this moment to end. She didn't want Alejandro to ever let go of her. She didn't give a damn as to what her mother thought. She was the queen and she could do what she wanted. She would lift the damn law of vampires and werewolves forbidden to be together. But then again, a werewolf did murder her father.

Heather stopped kissing him.

"What's wrong? Am I hurting you?" Alejandro's eyes grew with concern.

She was slightly panting. "No…"

He remained silent for a moment as he pulled away from her and brushed his hair out of his face. "Will we ever see each other outside of your bedroom?"

Heather looked at him and grinned. "That remains to be uncertified."

"Yes, that it is," he stretched his arms above his head, his muscles flexing as he did so, "But how about we make it certified? What if you came into the Woods of Eve with me for a day?"

"You're insane. You think I'm trying to risk being seen with a werewolf in my kingdom?"

He shrugged. "Maybe then people will realize how ridiculous that law is."

Heather's heart tightened for her father, but she brushed it aside and decided to change subjects. "Can I show you something?"

"Of course."

She sat down on her bed and he followed. Heather pulled off her maroon gloves and placed them on the bedsheet beside her. "I never told anyone about this, only my mother. She told me to keep it a secret for my own good, because she believed people would fear me if they found out."

He smirked. "I think they already do."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Anyways, in my bloodline, there's only vampires. But there's something different about us." Heather took a deep breath and focused on her hand. She felt it heat up quickly, and from her open palm, a small flame appeared.

Alejandro gasped and leaned slightly away from her. "H-How… How are you doing that?"

Heather looked at him, the flame making her eyes look piercing. "It skips a generation, this fire power. That's why my mother didn't have it, but I was born with it. We call it pyrokenisis, the ability the create fire from your bare hands."

His eyes were wide with amazement. "That is… Incredible."

"And there's more," she grinned and moved the flame around her hand. She twirled her index finger and the flame burst into tiny little sparks. The sparks floated around them, leaving a red trail everywhere they did. "The flame is in my control the entire time. I learned how to master it on my own."

Alejandro placed his hand on her cheek and brought his lips onto hers. When he pulled away he was smiling. "At least now I know you can kick ass."

She scoffed. "Please, I can kick ass without the fire."

He chuckled and they kissed again. Just when they were getting into it, a knock at the door startled them both. Heather kicked Alejandro off of her and made the sparks disappear. She scrambled off the bed and pulled the sleeves of her dress back up.

"What is it?" She called out, annoyed.

"Sorry, your majesty," Ezekiel's voice called from behind the door, "Your uncle is asking to speak with you."

A small groan escaped her lips. "Tell him I shall be down in five minutes." Once she heard Ezekiel walk away, she turned to Alejandro. "You have to go."

"Me amore, the magic was just getting started," he gave her a sly grin and tried to kiss her again.

She held her hands up and pushed him towards the window. "I don't think so. Go now."

"So how about my suggestion? Come see me in the Woods of Eve," he said.

She sighed. "I can't."

"Please." His voice cut into her heart.

Heather used all her strength to stop herself from kissing him again. Without looking into his eyes, she shoved him out the window and closed it without looking back.

* * *

"Ah, my dear niece," Chris smiled when Heather entered his room.

"Hello, uncle," she gave him a weak smile.

He looked at her for a minute before clearing his throat. He set his glass of the Bloodmoon wine down gently on the wooden table next to him. The fireplace in between the two bookshelves on the wall was crackling softly. Chris leaned forward slightly in his chair, placing his hands together.

"My dear, you are aware of the many… Secrets that this family hides, aren't you?"

Heather squinted her eyes. She ran her gloved hands down the skirt of her dress. "Yes. I am."

His black eyes dug into her soul as he stared at her. "However, you do not actually know what these secrets are?"

She nodded slowly.

Chris leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his wine. "I see," he placed the wine down again, "Well, my dear niece. I had always believed it was wrong to hide these horrid truths from you, her own daughter."

Heather's heart flipped. "What? My… Mother?"

"I'm afraid so. As a child, you were told that a werewolf had murdered your father- bless his soul- but that was all a lie. She wanted you to believe this family was indestructible," he explained. "Heather, it was never a werewolf that murdered King Jacob. It was Hilary. Your own mother murdered your father."

She couldn't breathe. Her fingers clenched into fists. "You lie…"

He shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving her. "I do not, dear child."

"But why!?" Heather cried, tears forming in her eyes, "Why would she kill father? And why would she blame a werewolf!?"

Chris stood up from his chair. "Hilary, my dear sister, she had a hatred for werewolves. Growing up as a child, she would be teased and intimidated by werewolves whenever she left the palace grounds. I had tried to stick up for her a few times, but she always pushed me aside."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "She killed father because of that?"

He shook his head. "That wasn't all. When Hilary was about seventeen years-old, she started sneaking out of the palace during the nights. I never snitched on her, being the loyal brother I am, but I wanted to know what she was doing. So, I followed her one night, and to my great surprise, I saw her with a werewolf man." He paused to take another sip of his wine. "They would meet up every night, and believe it or not, Hilary was in love with this werewolf, despite the fact that she would get teased by them as a child."

Heather listened carefully. "And?"

He cleared his throat. "One night, I followed Hilary out again, and of course, she met up with her werewolf man. However, things did not go the way she expected. The werewolf had brought his whole pack with him. They all surrounded her, smirking with their glowing yellow eyes and showing their sharp teeth," he seemed to get lost in the thought for a moment, "She kept screaming at the werewolf, saying he had betrayed her. He just told her she was naïve. His pack got too close to her, and some tried to touch her, but that's when I came in. I fought all of them off, and eventually, they scrambled away." Chris took a breath in and let it out slowly. "Hilary wouldn't speak to anyone for days. She didn't come out of her room either. One day I went in and tried to comfort her… And that's when she told me."

Heather's heart was beating fast. "Told you what?"

He shook his head. "She told me when she became Queen of Omaria, she would ban werewolves and vampires from being together, and she would make them seem as though their breed was evil and cruel to Omaria. She hated werewolves. She wanted her revenge on what they did to her. She was heartbroken, furious, and scared."

"But why kill father? Why kill your own husband to get revenge?" The tears started falling down her cheeks.

"Hilary became cruel and heartless when she became Queen. She got married to Jacob, never really loving him. Jacob was a kind vampire, he would do anything for Hilary at first, until she started ordering him around too much. She began treating him as though he were her servant, and was cruel to her maids and the rest of her family. She made harsh laws that the people of Omaria had to obey. She was blinded with greed and anger."

Heather's heart broke for her dad. A twinge of guilt flowed through her for a moment. She had always looked at her mother as a cruel woman for the way she was to people, but Heather was exactly the same.

"So, one night came where Hilary and Jacob got into a big fight. Jacob was telling her she needed to treat him and everyone else properly or he would eliminate her from the throne, and this made Hilary furious. She screamed at him, saying no one would ever be able to eliminate her. She was so angry, she slashed at him. His body dropped dead to the floor," Chris explained, his eyes had a bit of a wicked look to them. "If Hilary had felt any guilt for what she did, I do not know. What I do know is that I had witnessed the whole scene. I had just returned from tucking you into bed, and saw her murder Jacob. She saw me and told me to leave Omaria. If I ever returned while she was still Queen, she would kill me too."

"No…" Heather breathed. "This can't be true…"

"After the death of the king, Hilary pointed her finger at the werewolf that had broken her heart years before, saying he was the one to have murdered the king. The innocent werewolf was executed, his family forced to watch as well."

"No, no, NO!" Heather shouted, she backed away from him. "This can't be true! Mother couldn't have killed father! She… Loved him…"

Chris moved towards her, and for a brief second, Heather thought she caught a red glow come to his eyes. "I'm sorry, my dear niece. This is the whole truth."

Heather panted and turned away from him, tears pouring out of her eyes. She had loved her father, she still did. Her father was there for her when her mother wasn't. He was always trying so hard to be a good king and a good father at the same time. He was the only person who made Heather happy, and her mother had taken it all away from her. She ran out of the room, weeping and cursing her mother.

The fireplace was just burning out. Chris slowly sipped his wine, his eyes watching where Heather had run out of the room.

"It is time," he spoke intimately to himself, "She is vulnerable now."

* * *

The moon shown down on the Woods of Eve. Under the thick branches of the trees, a fairy and werewolf sat on a stone, their tongues locked to each other's mouths. Dawn placed her hands on Scott's back, digging into his skin. She heard a soft purr escape his throat, which satisfied her. Scott's hands went up her top, stopping just under her breasts. Ever since they had gotten to know each other, they hadn't left each other's sides.

Scott's thumb gently edged up her breast, and Dawn's whole body tingled.

"Whoa, whoa!" Scott gasped, pulling away.

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked, not wanting to stop.

Scott looked at her and chuckled. "Dawn, you're flying."

"Huh?" She looked down at the ground, and it did appear she was flying a few feet from the ground. She had also pulled Scott somewhat off the stone, his feet barely touching it. "Oh my… I didn't even notice I was doing that." She set him back on the stone.

He smirked. "Is that what you do when you get turned on?"

She blushed. "You weirdo, of course not."

"Oh, really?" He squeezed her breast.

Dawn quietly moaned and closed her eyes. His hand moved up and down, causing tingles to shoot all over her body.

Scott cleared his throat.

She opened her eyes and saw she was flying again. "Damn."

He took her hands and gently pulled her back down onto the stone. "Your wings start to flutter whenever I touch your breasts. Guess I know your weakness now."

She blushed again. A thought suddenly struck her. "Want to fly around for a bit?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Dawn, I don't think you'd be able to support my weight."

Dawn shook her head. "Most likely not, however, I have a better idea." She fluttered her wings and flew a few feet away from him. She felt her hands heat up at magic generated off her palms. She gently scattered the magic over Scott.

"What was that?" Scott looked at himself, trying to see what she did to him. Suddenly, his body levitated off the ground, glowing a yellow colour. He gasped. "Holy shit!"

She giggled. "You can fly now too, but only for a bit. It won't last long."

He grinned. "Then what are we waiting for?" He grabbed her hand and flew with her above the tree tops. "Um… How exactly do I control it?" Scott asked after losing his balance slightly.

The fairy took his hands and fluttered closer to his face. "Why don't you let me do the controlling here."

He grinned and kissed her. "Fine by me."

Dawn flew over the trees, holding onto Scott. They spun slowly around each other in the air, both locked in each other's eyes. There were no clouds in the night sky, making every star visible to them. Their lips locked again, and they got lost in each other. Scott sucked on her neck, placing her hands on her breasts again. Dawn moaned and flew higher when he did that. She ran her fingers through his orange hair and down his back.

"You're taking us pretty high up," Scott remarked.

Dawn looked down at the trees a good twenty meters below them. "Well if you keep groping me, I'm just gonna keep going higher."

He chuckled and stared into her eyes. "You're amazing, pixie."

She kissed point of his nose. "As are you, Scott."

A sudden howl in the trees below them caught their attention. The howl didn't quite sound like a werewolf.

"That's an unfamiliar call," Scott said. "Usually I can recognize a werewolf's call, but that… That didn't sound like a werewolf."

They flew back onto the ground and looked around. The shadows within the trees seemed to have gotten darker, and the fireflies that usually roamed about were not around. The sounds of the crickets chirping were gone as well.

Scott sniffed the air. A low growl escaped his throat.

"What is it?" Dawn asked.

Scott squinted at the shadows behind the trees. He got a feeling they weren't alone in the woods. Suddenly, a pair of big, red eyes peered right back at them.

Dawn gasped.

Scott growled and bared his teeth.

"Scott! Dawn!" Someone shouted behind them.

They both spun around and saw Cody running through the trees. He caught up to them and placed his hands on his knees, panting. "Boy, am I happy to see you guys."

"Cody?" Dawn rose and eyebrow. "What happened?"

The vampire looked at her. "Sierra is what happened. This crazy girl won't leave me alone! Please hide me." He ran behind Dawn and tried to use her as a hiding spot.

Scott huffed and yanked him up. "Alright, sunshine. Where exactly is she now?"

Cody rubbed his arm from Scott's strong grip. "Not sure. I ran away when she tried to kiss me."

Scott wasn't listening to him. He peered back into the shadows where the eyes had been. They weren't there anymore.

"Dude, you ok?" Cody asked.

Scott looked at him. "You vampires smell rotten."

Cody huffed and crossed his arms. "You werewolves are obnoxious."

Dawn came between them. "Alright, Romeo and Juliet, lets all be calm here," she turned to Cody, "Why don't you head back to the village, Sierra has probably gone to bed by now."

He laughed sarcastically and began walking away. "I wouldn't be so sure."

"Wait, Cody!" Scott called out.

Cody stopped and turned around. "What?"

He cleared his throat. "Just stay on the main path, ok? And walk swiftly."

The vampire squinted at him. "Why?"

Scott sniffed the air. The same howl from earlier suddenly echoed through the night. "I have a feeling something may be hiding in these woods."


End file.
